Senator Joe Manchin (D-WVA) takes off his mask to speak as two-member Senate and House members meet to announce a framework for the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) legislation at a Capitol Hill press conference in Washington, December 1, 2020.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
Senator Joe Manchin, the moderate West Virginia Democrat, said he would consider re-passing legislation through a party-line vote, but only in a situation where Democrats have been trying to get Republicans involved.
Manchin’s comments come as the Biden administration and Democratic lawmakers look at other top priorities, including voting rights legislation, after they passed a $ 1.9 trillion Covid bill this weekend without any Republican backing in the equally divided Senate.
The massive stimulus package has survived the Senate thanks to a process known as reconciliation, which allows the chamber to pass a bill by simple majority if it has an impact on the federal budget. Typically, a bill needs 60 votes before moving to the Senate floor under a rule called the filibuster.
The filibuster will make it difficult for the voting rights legislation passed by the House of Representatives last week to get approval in the Senate. Democrats would require the support of 10 Republicans through a regular process.
When asked if he would support the use of reconciliation, Manchin said only if the regular process requiring 60 votes fails.
“I’m not going to change my mind about the filibuster,” Manchin told NBC’s “Meet The Press.” “I’ll change my mind if we have to go to a reconciliation where we have to get something done as soon as I know they have processed it.”
“But I’m not going there until my Republican friends can have their say too,” he said. “And I hope they will get in to the point where we have 10 who will be working with 50 of us.”
Democrats have raised the possibility of bringing about a process like reconciliation, but would apply to certain important issues such as voting rights as opposed to the budget.
Manchin played an important, but at times uncertain role in the approval of the latest Covid bill. Democrats couldn’t afford to lose a single vote and had to make concessions to keep him on board.
Manchin defended the changes, which included an additional $ 300 a week in unemployment benefits instead of the $ 400 a week proposed by the House of Representatives. However, these distributions run through September 6 instead of August 29, and recipients don’t have to pay tax on the first $ 10,200.
“What would have actually happened, going from $ 300 to $ 400, there will be an outage with people going without unemployment checks for a while,” Manchin said during an interview with ABC’s “This Week.” The $ 300 a week is systematic and makes for a smooth transition, Manchin said.
Manchin also defended the exclusion of a plan to increase the federal minimum wage from $ 7.25 to $ 15 an hour. He was one of eight Democratic senators who voted against an amendment tabled by Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Calling for that change.
“There is not one senator in 100 who does not want to raise the minimum wage,” said Manchin. “$ 7.25 is sinfully low. We have to raise it.”
Instead, Manchin wants to raise the federal minimum wage to $ 11 an hour and index that wage to inflation.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki has said President Joe Biden will continue to push for a federal minimum wage of $ 15 an hour.
Manchin said he is optimistic that Washington leaders can work together to reach a compromise and make a change.
“We’ll work it out and move on as we should,” he said.